Greater of Two Evils
by Butterfly Needle
Summary: !ON HIATUS! When a stranger offers you unlimited power in exchange for nothing at all, do you accept? Bakura Ryou can't see a reason not to, but his trust in the mysterious Dartz won't give him what he craves. An alternate version of DOMA. Dartz x Ryou.
1. Goddess of Time Reversal

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters or anything related to it. I don't profit in any way from this story.

**Warnings:** This story is rated for violence and sexual content, though that won't come for a while yet. Chapters will be individually labeled with warnings as appropriate.

**Author's Note:** Jeez. I don't even know where to start talking about this thing.

This story has been around for... a very long time. I wrote it the first time several years ago, when I was twelve. I posted it here, even -- but it sucked and I've since come to my senses and deleted it, so don't go looking for it.

This is the third version of this story. It's come a long way, I think, but the plot is still essentially the same.

This story _is_ AU, so keep that in mind. Not so much in this chapter, but it will stray further from canon in the chapters to come. You know what you're getting into, so no complaining!

Much love to Litrouke for being an awesome beta!

**Greater of Two Evils  
Chapter One: Goddess of Time Reversal**

The classroom was _loud_.

It was not unreasonably so. This many teenagers in one room would make noise, no matter what the circumstances. The chatter wasn't even louder than usual, but it was unusually distracting, making it hard to focus on anything else.

Or maybe it was not the noise itself. Maybe it was just what was being said in a corner of the room, where two students had pushed their desks together to play Duel Monsters beside the remains of their lunches.

"You can do it, Jyounouchi!"

"Go for it, Yuugi!"

"Beat his Black Magician!"

"Take out his Red-Eyes!"

Almost half the class was gathered around those desks, cheering for the two duelists, though a few boys were sitting at their desks and trying to ignore the fuss. "It's no fun without the holograms," someone complained, loudly enough to be heard over everything else.

_Duel Monsters doesn't need holograms to be interesting. Where's his imagination?_

It was easy to tell who had the upper hand in the duel, even without really paying attention. Yuugi was the better duelist, and Jyounouchi's passion and devotion -- as impressive as they were -- weren't enough to overcome that. Lunchtime duels between them were intense and quick, and Yuugi always came out the victor in the end.

"Way to go, Yuugi!"

"Maybe next time, Jyounouchi!"

_Yuugi-kun will always defeat Jyounouchi-kun. They're both good duelists, but Yuugi-kun will always be better._

The desks were pushed back into place. Cards and mats were picked up and put away, chairs were turned around, students retreated to their own desks. The duel was over. There was no longer anything to be excited about, but the noise level in the classroom didn't decrease much.

"Hey, Bakura!"

Bakura Ryou blinked, startled. He had been spacing out, listening to everything and not paying attention to anything in particular; Jyounouchi's loud voice forced him to focus.

"Yes?" He shifted in his seat, straightening up a little as though doing so would hide how absent-minded he had been. "Do you need something, Jyounouchi-kun?"

It surprised him that Jyounouchi was even talking to him. He had never truly been a part of Yuugi's group, but lately that fact was only becoming clearer. Yuugi rarely talked to him, except to say "good morning" and "goodbye"; the others sometimes waved at him in the courtyard, but didn't have much to say.

He had never been one of Yuugi's friends, and in hindsight, it was clear that Yuugi had only kept him close to keep an eye on the Sennen Ring. Nobody wanted to be friends with the strange new boy with the frightening past, even when he wasn't really new anymore.

_But that's... all right. It's what I'm used to. And... it's probably better this way._

"I need to see your English homework." Jyounouchi sat on the corner of his desk, twisting around to grin sheepishly at him as he held out his hand. "I was at Yuugi's last night, and got really distracted, and Yuugi won't help me out --"

"Because you should have done it yourself! You told me you had it done, Jyounouchi-kun!" Yuugi was laughing, his words scolding but spoken so lightly that there was no heat to them. Ryou glanced up at him, then down at his desk, biting down on the inside of his lip.

"I can't give it to you, Jyounouchi-kun," he said quietly.

Jyounouchi frowned. "Don't be like that, Bakura," he said, still holding out his hand, clearly expecting Ryou to change his mind. "I can't fail, okay? C'mon. I won't tell anyone or --"

"I can't give it to you," Ryou said, voice quiet but still enough to make Jyounouchi stop talking, "because I didn't do it either."

"What?" Jyounouchi finally pulled his hand back and slid off Ryou's desk, obviously shocked. Ryou shot another glance at Yuugi; he, too, looked surprised. They made so many assumptions about him, didn't they? Most of them were true, granted: He was different, he didn't belong as part of their group, he wasn't a threat anymore... but they also assumed that he was a perfect student, something that had _never_ really been true.

In the past, games had often overtaken homework in importance, but recently the reason was entirely different. Games no longer really interested him, and he spent more time sleeping even though he wasn't more tired than usual. Homework, too, seemed unimportant.

"I'm sorry, Jyounouchi-kun," he said quietly, staring down at the scratched surface of his desk. They weren't his friends, not really, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to help them.

"No big deal." Jyounouchi brushed it off as he went to pester Anzu. Yuugi was not so easily satisfied, though; even without looking, Ryou could tell that Yuugi was watching him, wondering what was wrong. He bit the inside of his lip again and tried to ignore that feeling of being watched.

He forgot about it soon enough. Lunch ended and he busied himself with taking notes; the teacher's voice was comfortingly distracting, and it was easy to concentrate on it instead of on his thoughts.

The rest of the day passed in much the same way. During math he scribbled an idea for a Monster World campaign in the margins of his notebook, though he would probably lose the motivation to work on it by the time last period let out. It was hard to work on things when he was at home. His apartment was... quiet. Lonely. It had always been that way, but something was different now.

At the end of the day, when he was putting away his notebooks and getting ready to leave, Yuugi came up to his desk.

"We were going to hang out at the arcade for a while," he said. The heavy chain he wore around his neck clicked softly against the Sennen Puzzle as he cupped the pendant in his hands. He glanced down at it as he spoke. "Do you want to come with us?"

"I --"

Ryou realized that he couldn't come up with an excuse. He had nothing better to do, and he did not want to hurt Yuugi's feelings, though he suspected that Yuugi was only inviting him for the exact same reason. He wasn't a part of their group, but would it do any harm to pretend, at least for an afternoon?

"All right," he agreed. Yuugi looked up from the Puzzle to smile at him before heading for the door, followed by his friends.

"We'll meet you out front!"

Ryou finished packing his bookbag and left as well, catching up with the group in the entryway as they switched shoes. Yuugi shot him a bright smile, and he smiled back, hoping the expression didn't look as forced as it felt.

"They have a new RPG, Bakura-kun! You might even be able to get a high score before Mokuba-kun gets his hands on it."

_So new that Mokuba-kun hasn't had a chance to claim the high score?_

The smile he gave Yuugi as they stepped outside was a bit more genuine. Maybe Yuugi was only inviting him out of pity, but as long as he enjoyed himself, did it really matter?

***

The room was large, but a single voice easily filled it, a strong voice unfaltering despite the amount of time the speaker had been in this room. A man knelt on the cold floor, head bowed and eyes closed, almost as still as the winged serpents made of stone that curled around pillars against the walls.

Suddenly the voice fell silent; the man rose to his feet and turned without the slightest hesitation -- without any sign of stiffness or pain from remaining so still, though he had been kneeling there for hours.

"Varon. Amelda." His voice was still strong despite hours of use. If there was a hint of hoarseness in it, those he had named were smart enough not to bring it up.

"I have an assignment for you."

"Who is it?" asked Varon, just as Amelda said "I thought our targets were already decided?" They glared at each other, each silently berating the other for not waiting his turn, their personal feud momentarily more important than their orders.

"I do not need a soul. I need a person."

"A person." Amelda sounded skeptical. "Someone like us, or someone like Kujaku Mai?" Varon scowled, took a step towards Amelda with his mouth open to protest, but Dartz spoke again. Varon was not quite foolish enough to attempt to talk over him.

"Someone like you. Someone strong enough to overcome the darkness in his heart."

He told them of a boy younger than them, though not by much; a boy who was friends with the Nameless Pharaoh; a boy whose family had been torn away from him, though a car accident seemed tame compared to years of war and prison.

"He has been hurt," Dartz said. "He will not trust you. Try not to hurt him further, if it is possible."

Varon grinned. It wasn't a duel, but being given permission to use force made it almost as interesting.


	2. Plunder

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters or anything related to it. I don't profit in any way from this story.

**Warnings:** Some violence.

**Author's Note:** I feel like I should apologize for all the references to manga canon in a story so obviously based on the anime.

So... I'm sorry.

(Only I'm not really, since I'm rather fond of Ryou's geekyness, even if it doesn't fit. =P )

**Greater of Two Evils  
Chapter Two: Plunder**

Ryou had thought the classroom at lunchtime had been loud. He had been very, very wrong.

The arcade was so loud that he could barely think over the noise, and it was dimly lit on top of that. Countless children and teenagers screamed to be heard over the blaring noise of dozens of video games, and the room was so packed that there was barely room to walk without bumping into someone.

The first few times he mumbled apologies that went unheard over the noise. He stopped apologizing when he realized that nobody could hear.

"Do you like fighting games, Bakura-kun?" Yuugi was practically yelling in his ear, the only way to be heard. Ryou lifted one shoulder in a shrug, unwilling to raise his voice to speak when a gesture could get the point across.

Only apparently it couldn't, because suddenly chubby childish fingers were wrapped around his own and Yuugi was half-dragging him across the room, loudly explaining the wonders of the newest fighting game to reach the arcade. Ryou wished it was possible to yank his hand away without seeming rude.

When Yuugi finally reached the game in question he let go, and Ryou rubbed his palm against his thigh as he stepped up to the machine. The game seemed simple enough; the arrangement of joysticks and buttons was close to familiar, and the combos for the various characters were printed above the controls.

Yuugi beat him easily, three times in a row. He slipped coins in to pay for Ryou's games before Ryou got a chance to do so, but that only made Ryou feel worse, and after the third game he covered the coin slot with his hand so Yuugi couldn't do the same thing again.

"You've proven your skill, Yuugi-kun." He smiled even though he didn't feel like smiling. "Didn't you say something about a new RPG?"

"Right, right! I almost forgot. Sorry! It's in the corner over there, where that shooting game used to be. Jyounouchi-kun, do you want to fight me?"

Ryou was glad to step away from the machine and let Jyounouchi take his place. He headed for the corner Yuugi had indicated, walking slowly to avoid bumping into anyone, glancing up at the screens as he passed. There was nobody playing the RPG sitting in the corner. Ryou was surprised that the arcade would even buy one; they never seemed to be very popular.

_But I suppose I shouldn't complain. This should be much more fun than losing to Yuugi-kun._

The controls were again familiar, a joystick and a cluster of labeled buttons. He fed coins into the machine until the screen changed, welcoming him to the game and giving him the option to select the type of character he wanted to play. After a moment's consideration, he reluctantly passed on the healer in favor of the sorcerer. He much preferred healers, but they weren't very fun by themselves. They were support characters. They could only shine in a group.

Text started scrolling down the screen. He smiled as he read it. No surprises here. _A village attacked by dragons, leaving a single survivor to avenge his family with nothing more than a quarterstaff and his innate magical ability..._ it was a familiar tale, but that didn't discourage him from playing. He didn't really expect a good story from an arcade game. As long as it played well...

It did play well. The mechanics were familiar enough to be comfortable but different enough to be interesting, and the enemies thrown at the hero soon changed from weak wolves and goblins to undead versions of the people he had once loved, zombies with only enough free will to beg for death. Morbid, perhaps, but he enjoyed it.

The game world soon pulled him in, and he didn't look away from the screen even when he was forced to reach into his pocket for more coins. He was only distracted once, by something that was gone by the time he jerked his head up to look -- a voice, perhaps, or a movement caught out of the corner of his eye. Nothing important, he was sure. He returned to the game.

It felt like he ran out of money far too quickly, though a glance at his watch told him he had been standing there for more than two hours. It surprised him. He let the game end and entered three characters to the high-score table; B-space-R.

He couldn't help but grin as he noticed that there was no KAI on the high-score list. He was sure that, if he returned to the arcade to play again, Mokuba would have the top spot -- but for now it was his. That was definitely a nice feeling.

He stepped away from the machine to find Yuugi and the others, to inform them that he was out of change and going home. Finding them was not as easy as he had thought, however.

Yuugi and Jyounouchi had apparently grown bored of the fighting game, and that was not surprising, but they weren't anywhere else either. Anzu was not on or near the Dance Battle machine, and her backpack was gone as well, proof that she had not merely taken a break from playing.

They had left before him. Left without telling him.

_Am I so unimportant to them that they would forget about me?_

They weren't outside, either, though he hadn't been expecting them to be. It had started to rain while he'd been inside; the world seemed foggy and gray if he looked more than a few feet in front of him. The effect was pretty, dulling the sounds of the city and softening the sharp edges of the buildings.

He stepped out onto the sidewalk and started back to his apartment. It would take a while to get home, and he would probably get drenched on the way, but that was all right. He knew where he was going, so he wouldn't get lost, and a little bit of water wouldn't kill him. The sound of the rain was calming.

Walking was calming, too. He wasn't in any hurry to get home, so he moved slowly, not really thinking, just _observing_ the world around him. Everything looked different in the rain -- softer somehow, gentler. He let Yuugi and the others slip away from his immediate attention and tried to forget that he was upset, though it wasn't quite that easy.

"Are you Bakura Ryou?"

The question startled him; he hadn't noticed anyone else on the sidewalk and he didn't recognize the voice. He jerked his head up, trying to find the source of the question.

There.

A young man in a trenchcoat, one hand resting on his hip, something on his arm -- a Duel Disk, though different than the ones Ryou was familiar with. Duel Disks didn't normally come in green and turquoise, and the cemetery slot on this one was edged by something that looked disturbingly like a set of fangs.

"Yes," he said finally, glancing up at the man's face briefly before staring at the Duel Disk again. The man was wearing sunglasses, even though the sun was hidden behind the clouds that colored the sky a uniform gray. "Why do you --"

Something slammed into his back with enough force to knock him off his feet. It hurt, but more importantly it made him fall, giving him just enough time to throw out his hands before he hit the sidewalk and slid. His right hand was weighed down with his bookbag and he didn't think to drop it until it was too late; pain shot through his left hand and, a moment later, the right side of his face.

He tried to sit up, but pushing against the ground with his left hand _hurt_, and he'd landed on his right arm. While he was struggling to free his hand something dug into his side and pushed him over onto his back, allowing him to look up at his attacker.

"Can't see what Dartz could possibly want with _you_."

Another man. This one a little bit older, his voice a little harsher, his foot resting on the side of Ryou's chest with just enough pressure to keep him on his back. Ryou squinted his eyes against the rain and brought up one hand to touch the side of his face, wincing as his fingers brushed against a large scrape on his cheek.

Again, he tried to sit up. With surprisingly little effort, he managed to shove the foot off his chest and scramble to his feet, and it took him a second to realize that the man had let him do it.

"What do you want?" he asked, eyes darting nervously from the man in front of him to the street beside him. He didn't think he could run fast enough to get away, and there was nobody around to hear him if he screamed for help. "I -- I don't have any money..."

The man was just standing there, watching him. Ryou took a step back, and then another; the man didn't move. Maybe he had a chance to get away. Maybe the man was just interested in money, and would leave him alone because he didn't have any. Maybe --

"Too much of a coward to run?" the man asked, smirking.

_I'm not a coward!_

And the only way to prove that was to run, as fast as he could, not bothering to pick up his bookbag (it and its contents were replaceable but he most certainly wasn't), not looking back, desperately hoping that he wouldn't be chased. There was a convenience store about a block away, wasn't there? If he could just make it that far --

A hand closed around his upper arm, and too late he remembered that there had been two men. He twisted around to face the one in sunglasses, trying to yank his arm away; when that proved useless he tried hit his captor in the chest, but that only made the man grab his wrist. With one hand restrained and the other stinging he did the only other thing he could think of -- yanked his arm up and bit down on the man's wrist, _hard_.

He didn't want to hurt anyone, but he didn't want to get hurt either, and he was _scared_.

It seemed to have the desired effect at first -- the man shoved him away with a look of disgust -- but before Ryou could take more than a few steps, the older of the two grabbed his collar.

"Stop toying with him, Varon," the man in sunglasses said. The hand on his collar yanked up and then shoved, and with a sudden burst of pain Ryou's head hit the sidewalk.

***

"I trust you were successful?"

_Define "successful",_ Varon thought as he stepped into the conference room behind Amelda. They had the boy Dartz wanted, true; he was dead weight in Varon's arms right now, occasionally moving enough to drive a bony elbow into Varon's ribs. But he was all scraped up and soaking wet, and he looked too small and _fragile_ to be of any use to Dartz's cause.

"We have him," Amelda said -- needlessly, as Dartz was already walking towards them. They both waited in tense silence for Dartz to speak, to point out the scrapes that covered almost a quarter of Bakura's face and a large section of his left hand and wrist.

Tense, awkward silence, and then --

"Amelda."

The redhead jerked his head up, trying to think of how best to defend himself (_it was all Varon's doing, I never touched him_ -- believable if not exactly true). Dartz didn't scold him, however.

"He'll need to borrow some clothes from you," was all he said. He gestured to the nearest chair; Varon unceremoniously dumped Ryou into it and took a step back, rubbing his damp hands on the sides of his legs. The pale boy stirred, half-opening his eyes and immediately reaching up to clutch at his head.

"Varon. Get a first-aid kit and some towels."

They bowed and left as quickly as they could, relieved that Dartz was not angry with the way things had gone but still clueless as to what use Bakura could possibly be.


	3. Change of Heart

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters or anything related to it. I don't profit in any way from this story.

**Warnings:** None.

**Author's Note:** This chapter really should have been finished three days ago, but I procrastinate _really badly_. o_x My sincerest apologies to the wonderful people who have already reviewed/fav'd/whatever'd this story!

**Greater of Two Evils  
Chapter Three: Change of Heart**

Ryou _hurt_.

There was a throbbing pain in his head, bad enough to make him feel sick to his stomach and bad enough to have woken him up and he couldn't explain it. He'd just been at the arcade, right? The arcade was always annoyingly loud, but that had never made him feel this bad before.

As he opened his eyes, he lifted a hand to clutch at his forehead, as though that would make the pain stop. It did exactly the opposite, making both the side of his face and the palm of his hand sting. He opened his eyes and stared at a completely unfamiliar room through his spread fingers.

"...a first aid kit and some towels," he heard someone say, though the words sounded faint and unimportant through the pain. Far more important was figuring out where he was -- a conference room, with a large table and several chairs, but _where_? And why did he _hurt_?

It wasn't just a headache. It was the side of his face too, and his hand and wrist, and the _back_ of his head as though he'd hit it against something. Had he fallen at the arcade? But that wouldn't explain his face, the way his right cheek felt sticky-hot under his fingers. He couldn't imagine managing to hit his head _and_ scrape his face just by falling, but what other explanation was there?

_The voice -- the Ring --_

He reached for his chest, where the Sennen Ring was supposed to be, and only when his fingers closed around nothing but his wet jacket did he remember that the Sennen Ring wasn't his anymore.

_That's right. Yuugi-kun has the Ring. It couldn't have found me, because it's not mine anymore. I'm sure it couldn't have..._

"Are you in pain?"

There were footsteps and something moved into his field of vision, a man as unfamiliar as the room, with a commanding voice and -- and his eyes... Ryou couldn't help but stare at his eyes. They were different colors, one gold and the other bright green, something Ryou had never seen before.

It took a moment for him to realize that he had been asked a question, and another to find words to answer. It was hard to think. He just wanted to go back to sleep until everything stopped hurting.

"Y-yeah," he managed to say. Talking made his headache worse. For a moment, he said nothing, struggling to find the right words; his mind felt slow, as tired as he was.

"Why... who are you?" That wasn't really the question he'd wanted to ask, but it would have to do; it was so difficult to find words that he was surprised he'd managed to say anything at all. His head was throbbing. He closed his eyes and pressed his hand harder against his forehead, but the pain did not lessen, though the stinging in his palm was eased slightly by the pressure.

"My name is Dartz." The man's voice was strong, almost frightening, but perfectly calm. Ryou struggled to pay attention to what he was saying. "I apologize for the suffering you have been put through, but it was... necessary."

_Necessary? When is suffering ever necessary?_

Somewhat encouraged by the fact that Dartz seemed willing to answer his questions he tried again, pushing aside that useless thought. It didn't matter, at least not for right now. There were more important things to worry about.

"Where am I?" he asked, and he was pleased that his voice only shook a little. It was becoming easier to talk, and easier to think, though he still felt oddly slow and sleepy.

"You are safe. That is what matters most, is it not?" Dartz pulled a chair close to Ryou's and sat down, reaching out and tipping Ryou's chin up with two fingers. Ryou tried to squirm away from the touch but Dartz merely took hold of his chin, grip firm enough that Ryou could not break free without more effort than he was willing to make.

"Varon did not have permission to do this to you," Dartz said, voice so quiet he could have been talking to himself. With his free hand he seized the back of Ryou's wrist, and Ryou let him pull his hand away. The stinging in his palm and wrist grew worse, enough to make him whimper and try to yank his hand back even though he knew that Dartz wasn't the cause of the pain.

Dartz let go. He folded his hands in his lap and let Ryou press scraped hand to scraped cheek, even though instinct rather than common sense ruled his actions. At least it helped a little, transforming the burning pain into something duller, deeper but easier to bear.

"Why am I here?" Ryou asked, even though Dartz hadn't really answered his last question. "I... I can't remember..."

"You remember nothing?" Dartz asked. There was a sharp edge to his voice, as though he was angry, and Ryou couldn't understand why.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, staring down at his lap. _It's not my fault that I can't remember..._ though he wasn't sure whose fault it _was_, exactly. The Sennen Ring could not be blamed this time.

If he had fallen at the arcade, maybe he had a concussion -- but wouldn't Yuugi and the others have noticed? If he had managed to hurt himself at the arcade he would be in a hospital, not here -- wherever "here" was. His friends would care if he was hurt.

Wouldn't they?

Dartz was silent. When Ryou looked up he realized that the man was staring at him, as though expecting him to speak. Heat rushed to his cheeks as he realized that he had been so lost in thought he hadn't heard what had been said, and he mumbled an apology.

"You are not the one who should apologize," Dartz said. "You are not the one at fault." There was still that anger in his voice, but it made sense now. He was angry at someone else, the unknown person who had caused Ryou's pain.

Ryou was angry at that person too, even if he didn't know who that person might be.

"You are very calm for someone waking up in a strange place," Dartz said after a moment. "Are you not frightened?" He sounded calmer now, but there was still an almost familiar strength to his voice. It was just enough like the power that had always been in _the_ voice to send shivers down Ryou's spine that had nothing to do with his wet clothes.

"This... isn't the first time." As soon as he'd spoken he realized how strange that sounded, but he didn't know how to explain it better. No matter what he said, it wound sound the same -- would make him sound insane. But Dartz was silent, waiting, expecting an answer, and so Ryou tried to give one.

"It's happened before... waking up somewhere and not remembering how I got there. I'm... used to it." His grip on his jacket tightened as though he would be able to feel the Sennen Ring there if he just tried hard enough. He couldn't, of course. It wasn't there to feel. "I -- I know I must sound insane, but..."

"There has been a reason for your blackouts in the past, hasn't there?" Dartz smiled slightly, rising from his chair. "I do not think you are insane. I think you are merely in need of guidance... and perhaps friends who are not so quick to take what is rightfully yours."

"Do you mean... the Sennen Ring?"

It did not really surprise him that Dartz knew of the Ring; he had not ended up here on his own, which meant that Dartz had found something about him interesting. What puzzled him was that Dartz seemed to know that Ryou no longer owned it.

_Without the Ring, I'm not worth paying attention to. Even Yuugi-kun and the others..._

"I do. But that is not the reason you are here. I wish to help you, Bakura Ryou."

Ryou was not surprised that Dartz knew his name; it was only natural, given that he seemed to know everything else. "Help me?" he asked, curious. Why would Dartz -- a complete stranger -- want to help him? _How_ could Dartz help him?

"You do not deserve to be abandoned." Dartz took a step closer, suddenly very tall and intimidating from Ryou's point of view. "But that is what your friends have done. They think you are useless now that you have given Mutou Yuugi what he wants."

"Yuugi-kun _needed_ the Sennen Ring," Ryou said softly. He wasn't really sure that he believed what he was saying, for he could not remember exactly how the Ring had come to be in Yuugi's possession or exactly what reason Yuugi had given for needing it -- if he had even given Ryou a reason at all.

"Did he need it more than you?" Dartz asked. Ryou didn't answer. He did not want to speak poorly of his friends, but...

"Do you think they will miss you if you are absent from school?"

"Of course," Ryou said at once, but there was no conviction in his words. He was sure they would notice, but would they care? Or would they simply shrug it off and forget about him, letting him leave their group as easily as he had joined it? "_Someone _would notice. The teachers..."

"Could be made to forget." Dartz's smile grew, becoming almost threatening. "Would you like to start over? I can give you a new life, one where nobody has heard the rumors about you. And I can give you the power to make yourself... unforgettable."

"Why are you offering all this to me?" Ryou asked.

Dartz did not answer.

It was tempting. Yuugi and the others would barely notice his absence. Maybe a few girls would miss him, but they would find somebody else to idolize soon enough. His father... his father had already lost him.

It was wrong, perhaps, to trust a stranger, but what could Dartz do to him that the Sennen Ring's voice had not already done?

Ryou knew what he was _supposed_ to say: _Why should I trust you? My life is fine, I don't need a new one._ But it was so easy to ignore that rational part of his mind, to believe in Dartz's promises. He was sick of his old life. A new one could only be an improvement.

"What do I have to do?" he asked.

"Trust me."

There was a faint green glow coming from under Dartz's suit jacket and as Ryou stared it became brighter, almost bright enough to hurt his eyes. Dartz reached out and touched him, fingers trailing along his forehead as he brushed Ryou's messy bangs to the side of his face.

"Don't be afraid," he said as Ryou flinched back from his touch. The bright green light seemed to follow his arm, racing down to his fingertips as he touched them to the center of Ryou's forehead.

Something hot and bright and overwhelming rushed through him, spreading from Dartz's fingers like electricity. Ryou had no idea what it was but it was _strong_, powerful to the point of being painful as it raced through his body. Before he could cry out it was gone -- Dartz was no longer touching him and the hot-bright power had focused itself in a spot between and behind his eyes.

"Welcome to DOMA, Bakura Ryou."

Someone knocked at a door that Ryou could not see. Dartz went to answer it, leaving Ryou almost alone. He realized he was shivering, the cold wet fabric of his uniform almost intolerable after the heat that had filled him moments before.

He reached up to touch his forehead in the place where that heat still burned. His skin felt warm against his fingers, as though the power had marked him, and if he looked up at just the right angle he could see a faint green glow coloring the bangs that had fallen around his face.

Suddenly he felt exhausted. He wanted nothing more than dry clothes and a place to sleep until his body no longer ached with every move.


	4. Holy Elf's Blessing

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters or anything related to it. I don't profit in any way from this story.

**Warnings:** None.

**Author's Note:** I have no excuses. Not good ones, anyway.

I do, however, have a new chapter. Updates shouldn't take this long in the future! D=

Enjoy!

**Greater of Two Evils**  
**Chapter Four: Holy Elf's Blessing**

Ryou was aware of conversation behind him, but he was in no mood to pay attention to it; he stared into space and didn't listen, preoccupied by the strange warmth he could feel as he pressed his fingers to his forehead. He wished he had a mirror, some way to tell if the warmth was the result of some strange magical sign or just an overactive imagination.

"Is he okay?"

He could hear that without even trying. _Of course not,_ he wanted to say, but eavesdropping was rude enough without announcing that he'd been doing so, and he felt that this was no time to be rude. He didn't know what might happen if he angered Dartz, and he didn't want to find out the hard way.

"He will be."

Dartz and the newcomer seemed perfectly content to discuss him as though he wasn't present, but Ryou was still reluctant to be rude in return. He took his hands away from his face, placing the wounded one carefully in his lap and studying the scrapes that covered his palm and wrist. They looked as bad as they felt, covered with dirt as well as blood. Wherever he had fallen hadn't been clean.

_I don't think I want to know what my face looks like..._

There were footsteps behind him, and soon the newcomer came into his sight, a skinny redhead holding a pile of towels and clothes. The pile was dropped unceremoniously onto the conference table beside Ryou, but the redhead didn't leave at once; he stared at Ryou for a moment, apparently as bothered by the scrapes as Ryou was.

"Amelda," Dartz said sharply from right behind Ryou, placing one hand on the back of the chair. Ryou shifted sideways a little, uncomfortable with the closeness.

The redhead mumbled an apology and moved away, leaving the room and letting the door slam shut behind him.

"Can you stand?" Dartz asked, moving to where Ryou could see him. "You will be more comfortable in dry clothes, I'm sure." He held out a hand, but after a moment's pause Ryou pushed himself up out of the chair without help.

Getting to his feet was surprisingly easy, and he shook a little but didn't fall as he had half-expected he would. Dartz turned away, which also surprised him. It was less privacy than he was really comfortable with, but more than he had expected to get.

Undressing was somewhat complicated. He couldn't get his jacket off without it rubbing against the scrapes on his arm, and he kept irritating the ones on his hand even though he tried to avoid using that hand as much as possible. Only by biting down on his lower lip did he manage to keep quiet after he thoughtlessly touched something with his palm for the fifth time.

Despite those difficulties, however, he managed to get dried and dressed. The borrowed tee-shirt and jeans were a bit too big but they were _dry_, and that was all that mattered to Ryou at the moment. He hadn't realized before how cold he had been in his soaking-wet school uniform.

When he looked up from buckling the too-long belt, he saw that Dartz was watching him. His face immediately went hot with embarrassment -- _how long has he been watching?! _-- and he stared down at the floor, only to jerk his head back up as his hair fell against his scraped cheek. He wasn't quite able to keep from crying out, and as he reached up to push his hair out of his face, he wondered why Dartz didn't laugh at him as the voice would have.

"Sit down. You will be more comfortable after I tend to those scrapes." No laughter, just a quiet command and a gesture towards a chair (a dry one, not the damp one where Ryou had put his school uniform). Ryou sat, though the thought of having Dartz patch him up made him feel extremely uncomfortable; it would be painful, and he didn't want to be touched right now at all. Even though he knew it was probably a bad idea to leave the scrapes alone, he would rather do that than have Dartz touch them.

"You -- you don't have to do that..." he said, but Dartz gave no indication that he had heard as he took a seat next to Ryou.

"Hold out your arm," Dartz said. Ryou realized that further protests would be just as ineffective as his first attempt, so he did as he was told, stretching his arm out, palm-up, in his lap. Disgusted by the red-raw scrapes, he turned his head away and stared into space, trying not to think of how much it would hurt to have them bandaged.

It did hurt, much more than it had when he'd accidentally touched his arm while trying to get undressed. Whatever Dartz was doing _stung_, and it took a great deal of effort to stay still; he clenched his free hand into a fist and bit his lip but still couldn't quite keep from flinching every time Dartz touched him.

"How did I get here?" he asked, hoping that a conversation would distract him. He didn't really believe that it would -- nor did he really believe that Dartz would answer his questions -- but a slim chance was better than none.

Dartz did not answer immediately, and Ryou had opened his mouth to try a different question when the man finally spoke.

"Do you remember anything?" Not an answer, but more than Ryou had expected nonetheless. He tried to recall what had happened, with no more luck than when he had tried earlier; his memory came to an abrupt end much too early.

"I was at the arcade with Yuugi-kun and the others," he started after a moment. "I played a few games with Yuugi-kun, and then I went to play something by myself -- there was a new RPG that I wanted to try. I know I started playing it, but... I can't remember anything else."

Dartz's hands went still against his wrist for a moment, but without looking Ryou could not tell why. He felt as though he should say more, but there was nothing more to say.

"You are in America," Dartz finally said, "at the headquarters of an organization known as DOMA."

Ryou didn't know what answer he had been expecting, but that certainly wasn't it. Why would Dartz -- why would _anyone_ bother with someone so far away? Surely Ryou wasn't the only person in the world worthy of Dartz's attention, and he couldn't think of anything that made him special enough to be worth the trouble of bringing him here from Japan.

"Why?" was all he could think to ask.

Dartz started to wrap bandages around Ryou's hand and wrist, and Ryou relaxed a little; this, too, hurt, but far less than whatever Dartz had been doing before. The stinging subsided some. Ryou stopped staring pointedly into space, dared to glance at Dartz for a moment before looking down at his lap.

"Because you deserve a second chance," Dartz said after a moment.

"I've already used up my second chance," Ryou said softly. _And my third, and my fourth..._ Dartz was wrong. He didn't deserve yet another chance, not when he had managed to mess up every time one was offered in the past. A change of schools wasn't the same as whatever Dartz was offering, true, but Ryou was sure that there wouldn't be much of a difference in the end.

"A fresh start, then. One without the Sennen Ring to make things difficult for you. One without rumors preceding you."

Ryou was bothered, just a little, by how much he wanted to believe that it was that easy.

A fresh start was what he had promised himself with each new school, and yet things had only gotten progressively worse with each move -- but could things possibly get any worse than they had after he had come to Domino? Yuugi had the Sennen Ring; surely that meant that it couldn't return to Ryou as it had done in the past...

_How am I supposed to know who to believe? Do I listen to myself, or to him?_ He felt too tired to be making decisions like this. He just wanted to sleep -- and if this all turned out to be a dream when he woke up, so much the better.

Dartz's hands were on his face now, not his wrist -- gentle at first, brushing his hair back behind his ear, fingers lingering against his temple for a moment too long. The intimacy of the gesture made Ryou uncomfortable, made him want to pull away, but it was over before he could move.

He did flinch away when Dartz started to clean the scrapes on his cheek, however. The antiseptic stung much more on his face than it had on his arm, and he jerked his head away almost involuntarily when Dartz tried again -- he knew that Dartz was doing this to help him, not to hurt him, but that didn't change the fact that it _did_ hurt!

Dartz surprised him by not scolding him, or laughing, or saying he was foolish. He merely stopped for a moment, but Ryou was sure that he couldn't be pleased; he whispered an apology and closed his eyes and tried his hardest not to flinch when he next felt the sharp pain against his face.

With his eyes closed, he could not see the door open, but he heard it and the footsteps that followed. With Dartz's hands still moving against his face he could tell that the man hadn't stopped to see who it was. For a good minute, nobody did anything that might satisfy his curiosity, but finally the newcomer spoke.

"I apologize, Dartz-sama. I did not know that he was awake." It wasn't a familiar voice, but Ryou had been expecting that; it would be strange for anything to be familiar here, in foreign country under such strange circumstances. Without opening his eyes he could tell nothing more about the speaker except that he was male with a deep voice, and though the sting of antiseptic had left his cheek, he still did not want to see exactly what Dartz was doing.

"I will return later --"

"You may stay."

Dartz's hands fell from Ryou's face for a moment, but they were back before Ryou could open his eyes -- at his neck, this time, and only for a moment. He dared to open his eyes then, reaching up despite his better judgment to touch the side of his face. The scrapes were covered by bandages now, and he could feel the uncomfortable pull of tape when he moved his head. Unpleasant though it was, it was far better than the alternative; he knew that, and he felt more than a bit guilty about having been so difficult.

Then he looked down, frowning a little at the necklace now resting against his chest and lifting it for a better look. It was a small green stone in the center of an oval-shaped piece of metal, the stone the same color as the strange, hot light from before.

It felt warm, and it felt powerful, and Ryou was sure that its small size didn't make it any less dangerous than the Sennen Ring.

"An Orichalcos fragment," Dartz said. "Though now is not the best time to discuss its power. Tomorrow, perhaps, after you have had a chance to rest. Rafael!"

Ryou had all but forgotten about the stranger who had joined them only minutes ago, and he was just a little bit intimidated by his first real look at him. Rafael was tall and sturdy, and Ryou couldn't help but wonder if he had anything to do with the injuries Dartz had just finished bandaging.

"Show him to Gurimo's old room, and ensure that Amelda and Varon understand that he is not to be disturbed."

With that, Dartz left -- not through the large doors in the front of the room, but through a different exit hidden by a curtain, as Ryou discovered when he twisted around in his chair to watch the man leave.

He had a hundred questions but not the courage to ask any of them, so he was silent as he got to his feet. Rafael, too, was silent, heading out of the room without a word and pausing for only a moment in the doorway to make sure that Ryou was following him.

The hallway was cold and gray and plain, and Ryou knew that he wouldn't be able to find his way around this place without help. That bothered him a little, even though he was sure it didn't matter. Where would he go even if he wouldn't get lost? He only had a vague idea of where he was -- enough to know that getting home was impossible, but no more than that.

His thoughts were interrupted by a yawn, and he lifted a hand to his mouth just a little too late to hide it. Despite all the things he had to worry about, he was too _tired_ to work up the energy to be scared.

All the plain gray doors in the plain gray hallways seemed alike, but Rafael could evidently tell the difference, as he stopped in front of one of them and pushed it open. "If you need anything during the night," he said, "come get me. My room is just across the hall."

Ryou nodded, even though he had no intention of needing anything -- or of waking up a man he hardly knew to ask for anything in the middle of the night. "Thank you," he said, stepping past Rafael into the room. Rafael flipped up the light switch before closing the door, and the fluorescent light on the ceiling flickered to life with a faint, irritating hum.

The room was small and clean and utterly impersonal; whoever had used it last hadn't left anything behind except for a chemically-clean smell. Ryou was too tired to be interested in anything but the bed, and after only a quick glance around the room he turned off the light, pulled back the blankets and laid down.

He was yawning as soon as his head hit the pillow, and keeping his eyes open was a struggle not long after that. There were a million things he should have been worrying about, but the only thing that he could focus on was sleep.


	5. Angel of the Silence of Death Doma

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters or anything related to it. I don't profit in any way from this story.

**Warnings:** None.

**Greater of Two Evils  
Chapter Five: Angel of the Silence of Death - Doma**

Waking up confused and in pain was almost a familiar situation for Ryou, as much as he wished it wasn't. Unfortunately, that familiarity wasn't enough to stop the instinctive panic

He couldn't immediately remember where he was, or figure out what had woken him up so suddenly. While he tried to figure that out, he sat up, managing to get his eyes open despite the powerful urge to hide his head under a pillow and go back to sleep. It took a few minutes, but as he woke up completely he remembered what had happened the day before; the bandages and the necklace confirmed that those memories were real.

He wondered, briefly, what he was supposed to do now that he was awake -- he didn't know his way around this place, after all, didn't know where anything was or where he might not be welcome -- but before he could worry too much the door to his room opened. Just a crack, at first, as though someone was peeking in on him, but then the door opened fully. Rafael stepped into the doorway, a cup of water and a folded napkin in his hand.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

It took Ryou a minute to come up with an answer -- or at least one that he could actually give. He settled on "I'm fine," because he wasn't about to whine and complain to a stranger about silly aches and pains.

"Good." Rafael paused for a moment, frowning. "Amelda is not one to wish harm on most people, but Varon too quickly turns to violence. It was not by Dartz-sama's order that you were harmed."

"Just kidnapped," Ryou said, and only after he said it did he realize that he wasn't as angry about it as he should have been. If he had been truly angry, he wouldn't have accepted Dartz's offer, and even now that he was rested and able to think more clearly, he couldn't bring himself to be upset.

"Rescued," Rafael corrected gently, and Ryou did not argue.

"Why did he rescue me?" he asked, because Rafael didn't seem like he'd mind a question or two.

"That is a question only Dartz-sama can answer."

It definitely wasn't a very satisfying answer, but it wasn't entirely unexpected, either. Whatever this place was, whatever was going on here, Dartz was clearly the one in control of it all -- the others were mere subordinates, apparently with varying levels of loyalty. Of the two he'd met so far, Rafael was the one Ryou was most inclined to trust. While Amelda's involvement in Ryou's rescue -- _no, not rescue, it's still kidnapping no matter what you call it_ -- wasn't quite enough to condemn him, Rafael seemed steadier, more loyal, and easier to talk to than anyone else in this place.

Rafael hadn't complained about the question even though he hadn't been able to answer it, and so Ryou risked another. "What is this?" he asked, slipping his uninjured hand under the necklace that he had been given the night before and bringing it up to look at it. The small stone felt warmer than it had any reason to, and he thought that it was glowing slightly, though the room was too well-lit for him to know for certain.

"Dartz-san said that -- that it..."

Rafael hadn't interrupted him, but had given him a very pointed look, and Ryou stumbled over his words and then fell silent. Ashamed, he dropped his hand and stared down at his lap. The headache grew worse than ever as though to scold him.

"What Dartz-_sama_ gave you is an Orichalcos fragment."

He dared to look up again at that, surprised by the tone of Rafael's voice -- one of amused tolerance, rather than anger or even frustration. Was that the only mistake he had made, addressing Dartz with less respect than he apparently deserved? He would rather not mess up at all, but at least this was easy enough to remember for future reference.

"An Orichalcos fragment?" he echoed. That much he remembered from the night before, but Dartz had given no explanation of what, exactly, that meant.

Rafael nodded. "The Orichalcos gives us the strength and power to carry out Dartz-sama's orders. These small fragments of the Orichalcos stone may not look as impressive as the Sennen Items, but they are no less powerful." He touched the front of his neck, and for the first time Ryou noticed that he, too, was wearing one of the mysterious stone fragments.

_As powerful as the Sennen Items... _They seemed so mundane, like nothing more than pretty bits of jewelry, but Ryou didn't doubt that Rafael was telling the truth. Appearances weren't everything, and this necklace _felt_ powerful even if it didn't look like much.

"Are you feeling well enough to get out of bed?" Rafael asked. It seemed like a silly question to Ryou; he wasn't sick, or even badly injured. The scrapes were unpleasant, but nothing he couldn't handle.

He nodded, pushed back the blankets, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. It wasn't until he was on his feet that he realized how appropriate the question really was. Sitting still was one thing, but getting up and moving made him incredibly dizzy. For a minute all he could do was clutch at his head and hope that it would pass soon.

When it did, he realized that Rafael was standing at his side. "I -- I'm sorry," he started to say, embarrassed, but Rafael shook his head to cut him off before he could apologize further.

"Here. Hold out your hand." He handed Ryou the cup of water he had been holding, and unfolded the napkin to shake two small pills into Ryou's other hand. "Take these."

For a moment, Ryou didn't know how to respond. He couldn't understand why he was being shown such kindness even though Rafael's coworkers (_or are they partners? friends?_) had attacked him. If they were all on the same side, working for the same man, why were they acting so differently?

"It will help with whatever pain you're in," Rafael urged, and that was an offer Ryou couldn't turn down, even if he couldn't understand it. He swallowed the pills and then crumpled the empty paper cup in his hand, frustrated by the way even the smallest movement of his head threatened more dizziness and pulled at the tape holding the bandages against his cheek.

But despite all of that, when Rafael asked him if he felt well enough to leave his room, he only nodded and whispered an insincere "I'm fine". What else was there to say? Staying in bed all day wouldn't really make him feel any better in the long run, and it definitely wouldn't help him find out any more about the situation he'd ended up in. He had to find out more about where he was and why he was here, and Rafael either didn't have the answers or didn't feel inclined to share them.

"Come with me, then." Rafael turned to leave the room, throwing away the crumpled paper napkin as he went (which Ryou was rather grateful for, if only because it showed him where the trash can was so he could discard the equally crumpled paper cup). Ryou followed, head still hurting but not enough to keep him from wanting to find out more about this mysterious DOMA.

The hallway didn't look any less confusing than it had the day before. Ryou was sure that he'd never be able to find his way around by himself, and he was glad that, for now at least, he had Rafael as a guide. Getting lost wouldn't improve anything, and he sincerely hoped that he wouldn't be expected to memorize the layout of this building anytime soon. Concentrating wasn't as easy as he would have liked.

None of the other hallways looked any different, he soon found out, and he didn't know how Rafael could tell them apart. Even though escape had never really been an option in his mind -- where did he have to escape _to_? -- it bothered him anyway that it seemed all but impossible. He didn't enjoy feeling trapped like this.

He had tried to reason that this could be no worse than what he'd gone through as bearer of the Sennen Ring, but at least he had been familiar with that evil. With the Sennen Ring, at least the room he had been trapped inside had been his own. Now everything had changed, and if nothing else the Sennen Ring would have provided some small amount of consistency, something that would have been very welcome right now.

Lost in thought as he was, he almost didn't notice that Rafael had stopped walking, and he only just managed to keep himself from bumping right into him. He mumbled an apology without even thinking, embarrassed that he hadn't been paying attention.

The doors they had stopped in front of were different than the rest -- much larger, as though the room that lay behind them was significantly more important than the rooms around it. Ryou could hear voices from the other side, but they were muffled and not loud or clear enough for him to make out what was being said.

Whoever was talking fell silent when Rafael pushed the doors open, leaving Ryou's curiosity unsatisfied. He followed Rafael into the room even though he didn't really want to deal with more people right now. Not only was he in no mood for conversation unless it was to get answers, the uneasy thought that he might well be coming face to face with the person who had attacked him wouldn't leave his mind.

The room he stepped into was a large conference room, with only a few people sitting at the table in the center. Dartz sat at the head of the table, and the redhead he vaguely remembered from the night before was sitting on one side. Across from him was a man with brown hair Ryou didn't know, and...

"Kujaku Mai-san?"

Even though she was looking the other way, there was no mistaking the identity of the woman sitting at the end of the table. Ryou hadn't meant to say her name, but in his surprise he hadn't quite been able to control himself; the last thing he had expected to see here was a somewhat familiar face. It wasn't as though he and Mai were friends, but at least he knew who she _was_!

"Bakura?" Mai turned towards him, clearly surprised. The first thing he noticed was the choker she was wearing, and the blue-green, teardrop-shaped stone that hung from it. If Mai, too, had an Orichalcos fragment, then she was undoubtedly a part of DOMA as well -- and if she had joined, surely there couldn't be too much to worry about. Mai was a stronger person than he was, so surely she had joined of her own free will, instead of being brought here and given little choice...

"You're the last person I expected to see here," she told him, and there wasn't much that he could say to that. _The feeling is mutual,_ he thought, saying nothing. He felt as though he should have been reassured by her presence... but something felt wrong, and though it was nice to see someone he knew, he was far from comforted.

But he kept that to himself. He let Rafael lead him to a seat close to Dartz's end of the table, and he tried not to let it become too obvious that he was uneasy. The brown-haired man was the only person in the room he hadn't met at least briefly: Was this the Varon who Rafael had mentioned earlier as being violent? Ryou reached up to touch the bandages on his cheek as he sat down, and he didn't fail to notice how Varon smirked in response.

It wasn't hard to guess that he and Rafael had arrived late to some meeting, but Ryou did not have such an easy time figuring out why he was here. Dartz continued with what he had been talking about before the interruption, and without any explanation Ryou found it very difficult to follow. The painkillers Rafael had given him had not started to help yet, and all too quickly he tuned Dartz out, staring down at the table and trying to find something other than the headache to concentrate on.

The table wasn't very interesting, and his thoughts were too confused and fragmented to be of much use, but he still didn't notice that he was being addressed until Varon yelled his name. Embarrassed, he quickly sat up straight and tried to stammer an apology, but he didn't have much time to say anything before Mai spoke up on his behalf.

"Don't speak to him that way, Varon! If you hadn't treated him so poorly he wouldn't be so distracted."

She looked so angry that Ryou didn't feel comfortable saying anything. It wasn't always easy for him to remember things, between all that had happened and the blank spots in his memory that nobody had ever tried to help fill in, but he was positive that Mai had not been like this during Duelist Kingdom. The uncomfortable feeling from earlier returned with a vengeance, and now he knew that it was justified.

"You must be wondering why Rafael brought you here, Bakura." Dartz broke the silence with a perfectly reasonable assumption, but it still made Ryou uncomfortable. He stared down at the table again and nodded because he didn't quite trust his voice. It would be nice to have answers for the more important questions, but he'd take what he could get.

"There is a favor I must ask of you."

Even without knowing what that favor might be, Ryou felt both betrayed and, oddly, vindicated. Of course there was more to this than Dartz just giving him another chance. Of course he would be expected to do something in return -- how had he not realized that the night before? Nothing came without a price. The small light of hope that had flared upon seeing Mai flickered out entirely as he waited for Dartz to elaborate.

"Not immediately, of course. Your injuries will be given time to heal. But there is something I need, and I believe that you are the best person to help me acquire it."

"Why me?" Ryou asked when it became clear that Dartz wasn't going to continue.

"I need something that is in the possession of Mutou Yuugi. Who better to have help me than someone he has stolen from?"

For a moment that made sense to Ryou. Yuugi had taken the Sennen Ring from him -- it was only _right_ for Ryou to take something in return! But those vengeful thoughts soon faded, and Ryou was sickened by how he'd even been able to think them. He was no thief, and even if he had been, he refused to steal from a friend. _And Yuugi-kun _is_ a friend, no matter what..._

"If you're looking for someone to steal from Yuugi-kun," he said, voice trembling a little, "you'll have to find someone else. I won't hurt my friends like that." He fearfully glanced up from the table, expecting Dartz to be furious with him for disobeying, and he was startled when he realized that Dartz was as calm as ever. Why wasn't he angry? Wasn't it normal to be angry at someone who was disobeying you?

"I am not asking you to steal from him. All I need is for you to duel him."

There wasn't enough time for Ryou to be relieved by the first statement before he was struck by the second. Dartz wanted _him_ to duel _Yuugi_? What could that possibly accomplish? Unless Dartz wanted him to be utterly humiliated, nothing useful would come from a duel between him and Yuugi. He wasn't even particularly fond of Duel Monsters!

"I think you're asking the wrong person for help," he said quietly, even though he was sure that Dartz wasn't really asking. "I could never defeat Yuugi-kun in a duel."

"Do you always have so little faith in yourself?" There was nothing mocking about Dartz's tone of voice, but the comment still stung. "But I am not asking you to face him on your own. The Orichalcos fragment around your neck, combined with this --" he pulled a Duel Monsters card from inside his jacket and slid it face-down across the table, "-- will give you all the strength you need."

Ryou didn't think that a single card could help him defeat Yuugi, but when he picked it up and looked at it, he had to wonder if maybe it could. It had the green background of a magic card, and the icon of a field magic card, but all of the card's text was written in a language he'd never seen before and there was nothing but blank white where the image should have been.

Before he could comment on the image (or lack thereof), it changed. His necklace started to glow, and he could feel its sudden warmth through his shirt as it seemed to pick up on the card's presence. The white changed to black, and a six-pointed star surrounded by two circles appeared in the same green color as the Orichalcos fragment itself.

"What just... happened?" Ryou asked, staring at the now complete card in awe. He still couldn't read a word of it, but he was certainly convinced of its power. If it tapped into the energy of the Orichalcos fragments... Ryou didn't have to know what was going on to know that this was powerful.

Someone laughed, and when he looked up from the card he realized that it was Varon.

"That's the Orichalcos Barrier," Varon said, and unlike Dartz he didn't seem at all tolerant of this clueless newcomer. "Impossible to destroy once it's been played, and it makes your monsters stronger. But you've got to be careful with it..."

"Varon..." There was a very obvious warning in Dartz's voice, but Varon only smirked and continued.

"You see, Bakura, when you play that card, it takes the soul of the unlucky loser. So I'd be careful when you duel that friend of yours. Wouldn't want to see either of you hurt..."

"_Varon!_" Dartz snapped. This time the young man did fall silent, settling comfortably back into his chair to watch Ryou's reaction.

Ryou was sure that Dartz had not intended to share this information, and that stung far worse than anything Dartz had said so far. Maybe he wasn't being asked to steal from Yuugi, but this was far, far worse, and Dartz had intended to trick him into doing it anyway! He felt stupid for trusting him and even more so for accepting this offer. Any positives to this situation seemed insignificant when compared to this.

He didn't know what to say, and he couldn't stand the thought of sitting here while Dartz tried to trick him with more lies. Getting to his feet made him dizzy, but he refused to let that stop him as he slipped from his chair and made towards the doors at something too slow and unsteady to be a run.

The Orichalcos fragments might have been as powerful as the Sennen Items, or they might not have been, but all that mattered now was that they were bringing just as much bad luck as the Sennen Ring had. This new chance that Dartz had given him was nothing short of a nightmare.


End file.
